An Esteemed Guest
by evelinaonline
Summary: Klaus will never forget the day he found Ben playing with a black cat as if his life depended on it.


**Based on a prompt on tumblr: Ben with his black cat.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Watching Ben adjust to the real world was weird.

He'd get excited over washing his hands or picking up a pillow. He'd spend a few extra minutes taking in the smell of his hot chocolate before drinking it. He'd pass out at random places at least three times a week because he forgot to sleep. And if it wasn't Klaus that was talking to him, he registered things directed at him as background noise.

It was kind of like watching over a toddler. Then again, Ben had been doing the same thing for Klaus for over a decade.

They still took care of one another. In fact, it was rare not to see them together. Most of the times they even spend the night at the same bed, cuddling until they fell asleep.

It was great.

Not a single day went by without something odd happening in the academy. Klaus was proud to admit that he was the cause for more than half of such things. Not today, however.

He and Ben had plans to go to the mall, so he rushed to his room the moment he woke up. Klaus opened the door without bothering to knock, only to see that Ben wasn't there. _He probably just went to have breakfast,_ he thought.

Ben wasn't at the kitchen either.

He started to make his way upstairs again, only to see that the door to the courtyard was slightly open. He pushed it all the way open, and went out, only to see that Ben was sitting in the middle of the yard with his legs crossed, a black cat on his lap.

There was a grin planted on his face as he played with the cat, which was trying to climb on him. He wasn't even trying to be quiet when he talked to it, cooing whenever it got close to his face.

And Klaus was filming the whole thing.

It didn't take long for Ben to notice. Klaus was expecting him to yell at him for filming, but he waved instead, as if telling him to come see the cat for himself.

"Look at you making friends," Klaus said, sitting cross-legged in front of him.

Ben was scratching its neck now, holding it close. "You're jealous and you know it."

"Am not," Klaus said, but reached out to pet it anyway. "You're disgustingly affectionate."

"It's not my fault," Ben said. "I came out here to read, and she rushed to me the moment she saw me."

"How did she even get in?"

Ben shrugged. "I have no idea."

Upon further inspection, the cat seemed like she was around two years old. Her fur was pure black, and her eyes were wide and green, shining under the sun.

"Hey, she kinda looks like you," Klaus joked, but Ben didn't laugh.

He smiled instead. "Does she?"

Klaus hummed in response. "You should call her Goose."

Ben scoffed, but he was clearly amused. "She looks nothing like Goose."

Klaus shrugged, standing up. "Tummy is all rumbly, we should grab breakfast."

"But I already ate."

Klaus raised an eyebrow. "For the kitty, Ben."

"OH!" Ben said a little bit too loudly, but the cat did not flinch. Ben stood up too, keeping her in his lap. "We have some ham in the fridge, maybe she likes that!"

They ended up in the kitchen, setting the cat on the table and taking turns in feeding her. Klaus didn't know which was cuter; the cat trying to jump to reach pieces of ham with her paws or Ben holding them above her head and meowing at her.

"For a second, I thought an actual cat was in the house," Diego said, walking down the stairs, and freezing the moment he laid eyes on _the actual cat_ in their kitchen.

"Morning Diego."

"Good day," Ben said at the same time as Klaus, giving the final piece of ham to the cat.

Diego shook his head, a tired smile creeping up his face. "No."

"Yes." Ben took the cat in his arms, letting her play with the laces of his hoodie.

"No, Ben, no," Diego said, and he looked as if he was about to slam his head against the wall. "You can't just- A cat? You can't just bring a cat in the house like that, we're not- You brought a cat into the house!"

"Yes."

"Stop saying that!"

"Diego, dear." It was then that Klaus thought he should intervene, and started walking towards Diego's direction, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "What our brother Ben is trying to say is that he really wants to keep the cat."

Ben nodded quickly as the cat started climbing on his shoulders, placing her paw on his cheek. "Please?"

Diego groaned, brushing Klaus' hand off him and going up the stairs. "FAMILY MEETING!" he yelled.

* * *

They ended up keeping the cat.

They never officially gave her a name, but there were many thrown at her.

Luther and Five called her anything from The Cat to Ben's Cat, and so did Diego, although he had called her a demon on multiple occasions. Allison usually referred to it as the baby of the household, and Vanya liked calling it kitty, kitten and anything similar to that.

Klaus liked calling her Queen.

Ben had a ridiculous amount of nicknames for her, all above included. _My daughter _was a popular one.

On more than one occasion, Klaus had caught the others playing with her, Pogo and Mom included. The kitty would hang around the kitchen when Mom cooked, and play with Pogo's fur. Neither of them complained.

Luther would spend long amounts of time looking at her. He looked comforted by her presence, but would rarely reach out to pet her. It was as if he was afraid of crushing her, and Klaus couldn't blame him. When he did pet her though, she usually ended up asleep in his arms.

Klaus would always remember the time he found Diego half-asleep on the couch, one hand hanging from it to pet _her majesty,_ while mumbling random words under his breath. He was a bit hesitant about letting her into their life at first, but he wasn't ashamed to admit how much he had come to love her.

Allison was definitely the most open about her love for the cat. She'd put on music and dance with her, and Klaus would always join them. The cat seemed to have a favorite song, because she meowed as loudly as she could when _Life In Color_ by _OneRepublic_ was on.

Five was certainly not vocal about his affection towards the cat, but everyone knew about it. He always looked for her before he sat down to read a book, and whenever he wanted a snack for himself, he gave something to her too. Her favorite treat was her kibbles, and Five would wrap them around little pieces of ham, because of course he did.

Vanya was the most responsible one out of everyone. She always reminded Ben about her vet check-ups, and was in charge of getting her food. Her and Ben had been close growing up, and they'd bonded again over the kitty.

Klaus was her declared godparent, by none other than Ben. He was like a crazy uncle, always picking her up and buying her new toys. He loved booping her nose. She'd meow in response, and put her paw on Klaus' nose, and it was an endless circle from there.

And Ben? It was rare to see him without her anymore. She followed him around at all times, be it the bathroom or his bed. She did have her own, but she much rather prefered sleeping next to Ben, even though her actual bed was in the same room.

In the course of only a few months, the kitty was an indispensable part of the Hargreeves family.

* * *

"Do you think our queen getting fat?" Klaus asked one day when they were playing with her. They were in Ben's room, and Klaus was lying on his bed, picking her up as if she has Simba.

Ben, who had just finished cleaning up her bed from the fur, turned to him. "She is?" He walked up to them, taking her from Klaus' arms, and inspecting her. "Ah shit, I told Five not to feed her so much."

_Five and his gourmet shit,_ Klaus thought.

He took her back, bringing her close to his face. "Who's a fat baby? You are! You're a fat baby!" She meowed in response.

"Do you think we should get her to the vet?" Ben asked, clearly worried.

Klaus lay back down, letting the cat walk on him. "Chillax Benny, we can just wait for Vans."

Ben seemed to be reassured at that. It was true, Vanya was their sole source of information when it came to taking care of the kitty, since she used to take care of her neighbor's cat back in the day. Waiting sounded like a good idea.

"Hey, come on," Klaus patted the spot next to him. "Get some rest."

* * *

Two weeks later, when they were waiting for Ben to join them for movie night, they heard screaming from his room. The siblings exchanged a few worried looks before running with all their power upstairs, stopping in front of Ben's door.

"Ben are you okay?"

"Are you hurt?"

"Ben!"

"Stay calm, we're here-"

Ben was looking at them with tear-stained eyes, kneeling in front of the kitty's bed, where the cat herself was lying, with three tiny furballs snuggling against her.

"SHE HAD BABIES."

Movie night would have to wait.

* * *

**This was supposed to be a drabble but it got too out of hand, oops. Anyway, happy _Fanfic Writer's Appreciation Day_ (August 21st)! Give the writers you like some love today-**

**hmu on tumblr ( evelinaonline) if you have any prompts!**


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